Fuel cells, like batteries, have benefited from improvements in their design and in the materials from which they are made. Ceramic compounds of metal oxides have made portability and miniaturization of fuel cells more possible than ever before. However, several hurdles remain before the cost per kilowatt-hour of manufacturing a fuel cell will be competitive with the cost per kilowatt-hour of manufacturing conventional power generating devices, such as steam turbines for power plants; alternators and batteries for automobiles, etc.
Advances in the ceramic engineering and chemistry of solid electrolytes along with similar advances in the chemical and physical properties of electrodes have resulted in more efficient fuel cell power production and miserly use of fuel. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are truly solid state since they require no liquid phase to transport charged anions from one electrode-electrolyte interface to the other. SOFCs can reduce production costs by simplifying design since corrosion is not a concern and the electrolyte has no parts or phases that need replacing: solid electrolytes can crack, but they cannot leak as there are no liquid species present.
One aspect of SOFCs that make them costly is the need for seals. In a dual chamber SOFC, for example, the fuel flow chamber of the anode has to be strictly sealed from the oxidizer flow chamber of the cathode, or else the fuel gases migrate to the cathode chamber, poisoning the cathode and diluting the oxidizer flow, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the cell. Both the anode and cathode can be poisoned via chemisorption of an unintended gas from the opposing chamber. The seals, which are often vulnerably rigid, must be able to withstand nominal 700° C. (400° C.-1000° C.) temperatures and still provide longevity without leaking or cracking. Single chamber SOFCs can produce power without the need for seals, but the electrode materials necessary to make a single chamber SOFC must be highly selective in order to produce significant power, which is not easily realized. Hence, there is a need to improve or eliminate seals in dual chamber SOFCs.